BREXIT: A Petition to Trigger a 2nd Referendum NOW & the Basis for this Petition

We call on the government to trigger a 2nd Referendum on BREXIT & Terms now and give the British people a say on actual terms of BREXIT as well as the negotiation process involved; we all need to have a say on the terms irrespective of political affiliation. Here are the reasons why it is important to call for a Referendum now;

If the government had the foresight to call for another general election less than a year into office in order to strengthen it’s mandate going into the negotiations and based on it’s poor results in loosing it’s parliamentary majority it seems clear the government indeed failed to secure that mandate. This result in of itself should have been sufficient reason to trigger another Referendum on BREXIT. More importantly if the government choose to go through another general election to secure a mandate and failed it follows then that calling for a 2nd Referendum is NOT undemocratic as many have suggested.

The results of the first Referendum where based on ambiguous/conflicting promises by the Leave campaign of what BREXIT really entails with many of these promises turning out to be unrealistic and outright wrong – a demonstration of how NOT to conduct a referendum. As such it makes it crucial that a 2nd Referendum is called and for it to be based on a clear set of achievable principles covering things like access to the Single Market and Immigration/Free Movement as well as a clear vision/understanding in case of failure to reach an agreement with the EU – the No Deal option. These elements have NOT been properly defined in the first Referendum and it is clear that the current approach adopted by the government in driving the negotiations is one that is defined on the go. This is NOT the way to go into negotiations that affect the country for generations to come.

The approach the government has taken in defining negotiation terms for BREXIT have been within closed doors and in secrecy demonstrating yet another factor undermining this flawed process. Negotiation terms/red lines should be made public and it is critical that all parties are involved in negotiations that involve such critical decisions that affects us all irrespective of political affiliation. It is at critical moments like this where democracy/compromise should rule the day and NOT narrow ideology if we are to seek a united country going into these negotiations and coming out of it as united. As such I would suggest that the BREXIT process adopted by the government has been flawed from the outset.

It is no longer viable to call for a Referendum or parliamentary vote based on the results of the negotiations at the end of the BREXIT process due to the fact that the government is attempting to ram in a set of policies at this early stage that ensures all ties with the EU are indeed severed, including; the government being keen to sever ties with the EU by the transferring of laws at this early stage of the negotiations and the UK’s withdrawal from 53-year-old common fisheries agreement. This suggests that the BREXIT team is keen to embed hard BREXIT tactics to sever ties with the EU at this early stage of the negotiation to ensure these actions are irreversible by the end of the process. It follows that any decisions taken by parliament or through another referendum at the end of the process to reverse some of these actions will be highly unlikely or quite complicated/costly to achieve.

The decision to leave the EU was triggered by an act of the people through a Referendum. As such when the country seems quite divided about this decision and based on the unrealistic promises made by the leave camp and the dismal performance by the government in driving the BREXIT process clearly demonstrated by the recent elections, it is only appropriate for the public to have their say once again about this decision – not parliament. Their assessment would be based on a clear vision and a choice between BREXIT/NO BREXIT as well as a vision for an inclusive negotiation process. It’s also relevant to remember a quote by a wise man currently leading the BREXIT team; “If a democracy cannot change its mind, it ceases to be a democracy”.

Finally just to point out that the Leave camp has unfortunately been quite effective in downplaying expectations for a second referendum and conditioning it’s supporters to accept other less effective options; thanks to this approach and feeble leadership in other political parties many seem to have moved on from this option rather than stand up for it not just as a matter of principle but as the only viable alternative. The status quo and all these ineffective forms of criticism by the public and other parties on a topic-by-topic basis rather than the process is exactly what the current BREXIT team wants – confusion that runs its course while they establish their idealogical objectives behind closed doors. So it’s NOT about Banking alone, or environmental regulations, or standards, or auto industry etc. – it’s about the process and the people running it (or ‘running with it’ as is currently the case). I strongly believe there are no other alternatives to both keep the country united and ensure decisions are driven by a pragmatic vision of the country rather than some absurd ideology.

PS I would have preferred to use the Petition’s website and create a petition to assess traction of this view not necessarily to encourage a parliamentary debate because this campaign needs to be driven by the public (and the public alone). However, as the Petition website is currently closed and if you do agree with this view I would appreciate sharing/promoting this post & adding your name on the comments section or at least like the post – I also added a Twitter poll as an option here ;

Please read this post first; BREXIT: A Petition to Trigger a 2nd Referendum NOW & the Basis for this Petitionhttps://t.co/y1n4b2CM3J